Cop who shot Oscar Grant arrested for murder

posted at 1:35 pm on January 14, 2009 by Allahpundit
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Anyone else see the trainwreck coming here?

Mehserle was arrested in the New Year’s Day shooting of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old supermarket worker from Hayward who was lying facedown after being pulled off a BART train by police investigating a fight. An Alameda County judge signed an arrest warrant alleging murder, and Mehserle surrendered without incident, authorities said…

Sources said Mehserle was in Nevada because he feared for his safety after death threats were made against him. Douglas County is 15 miles south of Carson City in northwestern Nevada and includes part of Lake Tahoe.

Mehserle’s attorney, Christopher W. Miller of Sacramento, confirmed early today that his client was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Over to you, Jack Dunphy:

One theory circulating in the Bay Area media is that Mehserle believed he had drawn a Taser and intended to stun Grant rather than shoot him.

It’s a plausible theory, and indeed there have been incidents where officers mistakenly shot suspects they intended to shock with a Taser. And as theories go, its infinitely more plausible than the one alleging that in shooting Grant Mehserle committed “murder,” which under California law requires “malice aforethought.” In other words, for Mehserle to be convicted of murder, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he decided, in front of several of his colleagues and scores of witnesses, that he had had enough of this guy he was trying to handcuff and chose to end the struggle by killing him.

I doubt it.

Me too, although Section 188 of the Penal Code leaves the D.A. with a back door to malice: “[Malice] is implied, when no considerable provocation appears, or when the circumstances attending the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.” It’s clear as day that there was “no considerable provocation,” but if the jury accepts the taser theory, they might ignore that and simply decide that there can’t be murder if there was no intent to kill. Result: Acquittal, and a backlash in the streets even fiercer than the one that’s already occurred. My guess is that they’re planning to indict him for a lesser offense like voluntary manslaughter and only opted for murder on the warrant to delay the announcement about reducing the charges until everyone’s cooled down a bit, but lawyers are encouraged to tell me if I’m wrong. Exit question: Will they roll dice on a murder trial or step back?

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